Hands up, everyone who shed a tear at the end of this week’s episode of The Amazing Race Canada. (Jon Montgomery, I’m looking at you!)

Whether you were crying at Nicole’s never-say-die gumption or the topsy-turvy order the teams finished in is totally up to you. (Perhaps some of you were still grieving last week’s non-elimination leg that kept Sukhi and Jinder in the hunt.)

Once again the playing field is levelled as the eight remaining teams travel from Hong Kong to Vancouver, then on to the Yukon. The 12,000-kilometer flight across eight time zones gives Natalie and Meaghan time to think about who should get that coveted Express Pass.

Bob, left, Rex and Ryan are less than impressed with who got the Express Pass.

While handing it to twins Pierre and Michel came as no surprise to viewers, the other racers’ jaws literally dropped when they heard the news. We’ve seen the teams working together; the other competitors haven’t. Also on the non-sharesies list: how Michel and Pierre actively misdirected two other teams during a challenge in Macau. As Bob snipes: the twins have been “playing dirty.” But the largesse came with strings attached: the twins can’t U-Turn the Golden Girls and the brothers have to use the U-Turn on another team if they are hot on the heels of Meaghan and Natalie.

Once in the Yukon, the teams overnight in the Sky High Wilderness Ranch, which, despite its name, is located just off 5th Avenue in Whitehorse. They all come running when the breakfast bells rings, and are handed clues for their troubles. (And a juice box if they’re so inclined.)

Meaghan, right, takes a tumble during the dogsled challenge.

Riiip! It’s Detour time: Ride a Sled or Make Your Bed. The first requires duos to run 1.5 km to Fish Lake, harness a team of three dogs and ride their sled six times around a course on the frozen lake. The latter involves hiking to a site in the woods, recreating a set-up campsite and building a fire to melt a block of ice, freeing the key frozen inside.

Teams are split evenly between the tasks, but Michel and Pierre switch from sled to bed when they realize they’ve forgotten a dog’s name, so will have to run an extra three km to get it and then return to the lake. The Golden Girls do the same gaffe, but as they consider the 1.5 clicks a “morning jaunt” they stick with the sled. (Jinder refers to it as the run of his life, so . . .)

Over at the campsite, it’s a toss-up as to which is the more amusing: Bob and Rex’s ongoing spat over pretty much everything – “Of course you’re right dear. You’re always right Bob!” Rex fumes — or Mickey and Pete’s overconfidence on setting up their camp. “We usually do it in the dark when we’re drunk,” Pete confides. But wait! We have a winner: The Muskoka Boys totes try to Mrs. Robinson Nicole. “Kidding, Cormac!” Pete calls over after asking if Nicole wants to spend the night in their tent. “Totally not,” Mickey adds. Then, in a camera confessional filmed later in the day, Mickey says, “She’s gorgeous.” “Hot mom,” Pete confirms.

Hey ladies, check out Pete’s pop-up . . . tent.

Rob and Ryan whiz through the dog-sled challenge, while Sukhi and Jinder and Meaghan and Nat run into some hang-ups. Alain and Audrey can’t get their dogs to mush for Pete’s sake. For their part, Sukhi and Jinder fall into their SOP of pestering other teams for info on how to complete the challenge. Rob and Ryan advise them to go look at the example, LIKE THEY DID.

Coming out of the Detour, it’s Ryan and Rob in the lead, followed by Natalie and Meaghan, Alain and Audrey and Nicole and Cormac. Then it’s Mickey and Pete and Sukhi and Jinder, with Pierre and Michel and Rex and Bob in the rear. But Sukhi and Jinder have to complete a Speed Bump before they move on to the upcoming Road Block. They have to attach a trailer to pickup, drive it to different location and then back the trailer into a designated spot. She gets the first two parts no worries, but gives up the driver’s seat to her brother for the last bit.

Despite his outdoorsy background, Pete had a tough time with the biathlon challenge.

Despite the extra task, the siblings come into the Road Block in sixth position. In the task, one team member must bike a challenging 1-km bike course through the woods before shooting at five targets 50 metres down range. They get five bullets each round, but if they miss, they have to do another circuit on the bike. Once all targets have been hit, they get their next clue.

Just making it around the course is difficult. “Oh, my legs are going to fall off. God these hills!” Rob says half-way through his first go round. As for the shooting, it’s easy pickings: Alain hits five out of five his first try and Natalie takes two rounds to get ‘er done, as do Rob and Sukhi (who’s never held a gun in her life). But Pete, who has been shooting since he was a tyke, runs into difficulty, taking eight turns to finish the task. “I’m never going to be able to go to my hunt camp again,” he laments.

Nicole tries to keep it together during the biathlon challenge.

Nicole wishes she had it that easy. It takes her 13 tries to hit one target. She’s discouraged, but won’t give up. “You didn’t start this not to finish it, okay?” she whispers to herself while lying prone on the range, readying to shoot again. She doesn’t quit, but nor does she hit another target until her 21st try. Finally on attempt 22, she completes the task.

Of course, by then it’s too late. Alain and Audrey have taken first place, ending the four-leg winning streak of Meaghan and Natalie. The couple from Quebec receive a trip for two to a sun destination serviced by Rouge, and $3,000 spending money. Rob and Ryan are a very close second, followed by Natalie and Meaghan and Sukhi and Jinder. Then it’s Michel and Pierre, followed by Mickey and Pete and Bob and Rex.

Sukhi and Jinder switch directions after figuring out they were canoeing upstream.

When Cormac and Nicole arrive at the Pit Stop after canoeing down the Yukon River (down the river, Sukhi and Jinder, not UP), Jon informs them their race is done. And cue water works! The mother-son team are so supportive of each other it’s sweet.

Next week, the Race heads to Winnipeg, where the teams once again take to the ice, this time on skates. What did you think of the show’s return to Canada? Are Rex and Bob as entertaining as I think they are, or are they grating on your last nerve? How about Sukhi and Jinder? Come back Wednesday morning for my exit interview with Nicole and Cormac; and next week for the recap when the show swings through Winnipeg. And there will be some bonus content, too: I will recap the midseason special, After the Race, which airs following next week’s episode.